SBA Loans Set Record A record number of small businesses received SBA loans last year, as the agency concentrated on making smaller loans without increasing the total dollars it guarantees. SBA said the number of loans increased by 29% in fiscal 2003 compared to the previous year. SBA backed 76,465 loans to small businesses in the agency’s three major loan programs. The result “validates our approach to making smaller loans more readily available to the real job creation engine of our economy,” said SBA Administrator Hector Barreto. SBA had announced last year a policy of emphasizing loans of less than $150,000. It said startups and other businesses seeking these smaller loans are “most likely to be underserved by the commercial capital markets.” (SAA, 9/20/02) The agency said loans to African Americans increased by 61%, loans to Hispanic Americans increased by 39%, loans to Asian Americans increased by 31% and loans to Native Americans increased by 18%. Loan approvals for women small business owners increased by 33%, to 16,503 loans, and loans to veteran-owned small businesses rose by 22%, to 7,413 loans.